Simulation-based Approach to Systematic Project Planning and Scheduling at a Bridge Girder Fabrication Shop

Lean Construction Planning Subject to Variations in Detailed Features of Fabricated Bridge Girders

“…It is noteworthy these variations exist in reality, are clearly specified in the production plan, and exert significant influence upon time duration in making a girder and the lag time between the start times of processing consecutive girders at the fabrication shop. Such variations cannot be overlooked; instead, they need to be analytically modeled and predicted by proper production planning (Hasan et al 2019). The remainder of the paper resorts to a case study of bridge girder fabrication to further investigate the simulation model for a bridge girder fabrication shop of our industry partner (Hasan et al 2019).…”

“…Such variations cannot be overlooked; instead, they need to be analytically modeled and predicted by proper production planning (Hasan et al 2019). The remainder of the paper resorts to a case study of bridge girder fabrication to further investigate the simulation model for a bridge girder fabrication shop of our industry partner (Hasan et al 2019). Based on the simulation, we make an attempt to elaborate on the effect of variations due to product design and workflows in girder fabrication in the context of applying lean concepts for planning field construction operations in practice.…”

“…The girders have been classified into four categories (Type 1-4) based on their design attributes (length, depth, shop splices, field splices, stiffener quantity and locations). Table 1 summarizes the girders' attributes defining a unique type of girder, and their structural design variations, which is defined in the simulation model developed for the bridge girder fabrication shop being studied (Hasan et al 2019). The four types of girder share some identical features among them (e.g.…”

“…For this reason, this paper uses a real-world case of planning bridge girder fabrication at a steel fabrication shop to illuminate on the above-identified problem. It is worth mentioning that in a separate, recent endeavor, a computer simulation model had been developed to account for sufficient details from the perspective of the actual shop manager and thoroughly validated in conjunction with an industry partner (Hasan et al 2019). The resulting simulation model provides a reliable and convenient vehicle for the present research to design "what-if" scenarios for simulation and collect simulation data as if they would have been the consequences from executing a postulated scenario in the fabrication shop being studied.…”

“…In this research, we take advantage of a validated simulation model for a structural component fabrication shop in the service of construction projects. The simulation model was developed and validated in Hasan et al (2019), which serves as the virtual plant for a bridge girder fabrication shop in the real world. In the case study, insights gained from the virtual plant in regards to girder fabrication time and start-tostart lag time between consecutive girders are extracted and further generalized as planning guidelines for project schedulers.…”